Shoulder soreness: Part 3

It has been over 9 months since I injured my shoulder. I have been quite diligent with my rehab programme with a lot of focus being spent on  scapula and rotator cuff strengthening exercises as well as lat and pec mobility.

The result is, my range of motion has improved and I am finally able to place load on my shoulder. Started with my weights on presses and have started back into more advance yoga practises.Certain positions still cause me discomfort, overhead hangs and high arm stretches but I could not be happier with the progress so far. Let's just hope I don't do something stupid (again) to re-injure myself. Just in time for summer.

Shoulder Soreness: Part 2

It has been over 6 weeks and unfortunately there hasn't been any noticeable improvement to the health and mobility of my right shoulder. Despite protests from my physiotherapist to keep working at it I impatiently setup an MRI appointment toget to the bottom of the injury.

First time in an MRI. The technician offered me headphones and hands me a rubberised bell to ring in the case of an emergency. I slip the headphones on and then another pair of ear muffs go ontop. Korean Pop music sings mellifluously into my world as I lay down in the large contraption. I don't understand a single word but that is soon replaced by the discordant sound of the machine. It's loud. Really loud. 25 minutes pass and even though I'm not usually prone to claustrophobia am definitely glad to be done.

So the results...

1. Supraspinatus tendinopathy or intrasubstance tear.
2. Small anterior labrum tear.
3. Mild sub acrominal-sub deltoid bursitis.
4. Small bone cyst in humeral head close to biciptal groove region.

I honest don't understand what any of this means however the words 'tear' scare me to no end. I take the results to a orthopedic specialist and am explained what each item means. In a nutshell, he says points 3 and 4 are most likely not the cause of my current pain however the SLAP, or the labrum tear although minor, may require arthroscopy or key hole surgery. The suggestion is to try physiotherapy for 4-6 months and see if there's any improvement. Time will tell.

Shoulder Soreness: Part 1

After 30 years of putting up with my antics it appears that my body has started to break down. It began 3 weeks ago, after a double session of BJJ and gym I went to bed with no noticeable afflictions. Unfortunately, I woke the following morning with an incredible soreness and the inability to raise my arm above the horizontal. Something is definitely not right.

So after a few weeks of resting, icing and compressing my shoulder health has not improved and I head to the physiotherapist for initial prognosis.

"Wow - Do you have a camera on your phone? I want to show you how imbalanced your shoulders are. Your right shoulder is a handful of centimetres lower than your left." - Physiotherapist

I have been prescribed a series of rotator cuff and rhomboid strengthening exercises. It still hurts to raise my arms above the horizontal. Something is definitely not right.